DRIVERS were urged today to leave the road clear for gritters.
The plea not to block the road came from Kirklees Council - anxious to stop parked vehicles getting in the way.
Clr Ann Denham, the Council Cabinet member with responsibility for environment and highways, said: "Parked and abandoned cars can stop the gritters - which are full sized lorries - from getting through.
"Just a little thought from motorists can make the difference between being able to treat their road and not being able to."
Highways officials are monitoring the weather 24 hours a day from October to April to decide when to call out the gritters. If freezing conditions or snow are forecast, the priority routes are gritted in just two hours.
This is usually done early in the evening or in the morning before 7am.
When heavy snow is falling, the top priority is to keep the major road network open. After that, the priorities for gritting are main bus routes, steep main distributor roads into housing estates, schools, hospitals and industrial estates and major town centre pavements.
Because the gritters can't treat the whole road network, there are over 1,000 salt bins throughout Kirklees that people can use to spread salt on the public road if they get stuck.
The bins are filled at the beginning of winter and after periods of severe weather.
